Preparing for Winter

Share this:

The leaves are at their colorful peak right now, and the bright, bright blue skies with the fluffy clouds make it pleasurable to be outside doing chores.Our cellar way is filled with buckets of potatoes, baskets of apples and squashes; braids of onions and garlic dangle from the rafters next to bunches of drying herbs. I’ve washed windows, stored screens, and drained garden hoses.My husband planted garlic and harvested his pumpkins while I’ve been working on cleaning out the gardens and planting cover crops. We’ve spent the past few days going over our “Winterizing Your Home” checklist.

I thought it might be a good idea to use a similar checklist on the chicken coop.Some of the items don’t apply, of course….there are no gutters on the coop to clean out and no furnace filters to change or fans to reverse, but let’s run through the rest of the list to see what could be done to prepare the outbuilding for a season of snow and cold weather.

Block leaks.In the house, we make sure the weather-stripping is intact or replaced, that electrical outlets are covered and no air can blow in under the doors.In the chicken coop, I check to be certain that windows and doors close tightly.Fresh air can come in from under the eaves, but it’s drafts that I am concerned about.Somewhere, I saw a suggestion for adding a few inches of light rubber or heavy fabric to the bottom of a door for a “door sweep” to keep wintry breezes from whistling underneath.I can easily add that with a heavy-duty stapler.The windows shut and latch tightly, but there are a few places along the bottom of the coop—where the walls meet the foundation—that have separated a bit.I will fill these with weather resistant caulk—and soon, since I don’t want to take the chance of some little creature deciding to take a winter nap under the coop. Caulking shouldn’t be used inside the coop, but strips of cardboard stapled along a drafty wall can work just as well.

Insulate. In our house, we make sure we have at least 12 inches of insulation in the attic and crawl spaces.When we built the chicken coop, we did insulate the walls with “R-19” insulation covered with plywood.The floor, however, is simply ¾ inch exterior plywood. When I do the fall cleaning of the coop, I place a bottom layer of pine flake shavings for absorbency and some diatomaceous earth for parasite control on the floor.Then I add straw.Throughout the winter, I continue to add layers of straw as needed. This is basically what Harvey Ussery promotes as the “deep litter method” in The Small-Scale Poultry Flock.Sometimes during a thaw, I will remove the top layer under the roosts and toss it on one of the gardens, but unless I slip up and spill water into the litter, I never completely remove all the insulating straw until I clean out the coop in the spring.It’s amazing to me how comfortable the coop actually is in the winter, with the body heat from the birds and the deep layer of composting straw on the floor. By spring-cleaning time, there’s at least a foot of material on the floor.

In my storage shed, along with bales of straw, I store bags of dry leaves that I’ve raked from the yard.Every once in a while, I’ll add a bag of leaves to the litter on the floor.It’s fun for the girls to scratch through them, and it adds another layer of insulation.

It’s always interesting to see how the chickens become insulated, too.As they finish up their molt, they add what appears to me to be lovely down “underwear”.On the nights that the temperatures dive below zero, I cover their combs with petroleum jelly to help keep them from freezing, but as I put the hen back onto her roost, I can feel that next to her skin she’s toasty warm.They cuddle next to each other for warmth on the roosts, flip their feathers over their toes and settle down for the long winter nights.

Storm windows.The windows in our coop are recycled from a machine shop—they are insulated, thermal pane windows.The first coop we had, some years ago, had windows with light glass.We made storms windows for those—built a frame, which we covered with heavy plastic and nailed right over the windows.Sometimes the wind would blow through the light glass so hard that the plastic would ripple, but the storm windows kept drafts out of the coop. We have considered covering our windows with a layer of plastic, but they seem to seal tightly enough that it is not necessary.

Replace missing or old shingles, check roofing. On our house, we do this check when we clear the gutters.On the coop, I make a visual check.The roofing is metal, and I can easily tell if there are leaks or loose edges.

This basic checklist seems to cover the entire coop: roof to foundation and in between. We have no electricity or running water in our coop, so there’s no need to wrap heat tape around pipes, but you may want to do this.

In addition to making any repairs or additions to the weather-hardiness of the coop, there are a few other things I like to make sure I have done before winter sets in.

·Feed.I store all feed in metal trashcans to keep rodents out of it. In the winter, I have two cans of feed, in case of road closing storms.

·Water. Since I have to carry water from the house at least twice a day in cold weather, I make sure I have extra waterers.

·Parasite control. Close quarters seem to invite “critters” like mites and lice.I dust corners and nests with DE, but I also have an inside bathing facility for the girls. One of my fellow Community Chickens bloggers, Rebecca Nickols, wrote a very nice piece on this some time ago, and my husband put his own “spin” on the project and made a low wooden frame that holds a plastic tub partially filled with DE, sand and wood ashes.There’s a 4-inch edge on the frame to make it less likely to tip as the hens step into the tub for their dust baths.I cover the tub on very chilly or damp days, but on a sunny day—even if the temperature is low—the chickens make good use of the tub as they stretch, fluff, and roll any dead skin, loose feathers and itchy parasites off their bodies.

·Netting and wire check on chicken runs.Over the summer, the deer netting that we use over the top and along the upper sides of the run often pulls apart.I replace any that has holes, and make sure it is fastened tightly and pulled taut.Sticks and small branches that have fallen on it are removed, too.

Finally, to make it a bit easier on myself, I trim any branches that hang low over the path to the coop.My winter days start much better when I haven’t brushed against a snow covered branch—snow that seems always to end up right down inside the back of my jacket!

The ramp up to the doors of our storage shed proved to be very slippery last year, particularly when I was carrying a bale of straw or had my hands full in some other way.We covered it with textured roofing this year, so I’m hoping this will take care of the problem. Again, my days begin more brightly when I’ve not landed flat on my back!

When the coop and run seems tight and the storage shed is filled with straw, leaves and feed, I have the same feeling I receive when the eaves are cleared, the holes are plugged in the foundation of the house, and the pantry and freezer and woodshed are full….secure and prepared for winter….and ready to enjoy the rest of the autumn!

Leave a Comment

12 Comments

I guess my chickens are spoiled. I live where temps an get to -20+ in the winter & cannot even imagine not having heat in my coop. My coop is attached to the building where my shop is. We installed 2 bathroom fans, drawing warm air out of my shop & blowing it in at ground level into my coop. Keeps my coop warm but not hot. I have consistant amount of eggs laid all year long. They have access 24 hrs a day to going outside into their pen through a small door that is always open. I dont have to deal with frozen cones or water plus as mine have a very large area to roam in each evening they are already in to enjoy the warmth so I dont have to herd them in. I also have a vacant horse stall that they can get into during the day if they choose not to go into the coop. Makes me sleep easy at nite knowing my chics are warm. brrrrrrr if I was a chicken I wouldnt want to be without heat in the cold……

Hi I never thought of a place for dusting off but my hen house will get a look at tomorrow for one.I have dirt floor so I do the mulch but I put a pallet under the straw so that any water or moisture is not on their feet. Worked nice last year. I remove weekly in spring to clean but during winter I will let it add up. My ducks and geese preferred being about so into a pen and dog igloos were used. I put a bail of straw in front wrapped in plastic that was a draft stopper they went in and out as they wanted. Ducks and Geese are more acclimated to winter. Heard there are some chickens that do not mind but my girls like their creature comforts. I insulate the outside of the coop, staple up plastic, then I put old lumber or tub lids from totes along the base to keep out drafts. We put insulation and plastic in ceiling and bring it down within a foot to keep heat in. this year door must be reckoned with thanks for the tips

We once had a Pekin duck who spent his winter nights in the dog house with an outside dog. He lived for years. My grandchildren got him for a pet and in the winter, his favorite sport was sled riding with the kids! That duck never minded the cold at all.

RE: keeping Pekin ducks in winter with snow.We got 3 pekins several years ago and now have one of those left with two “teenage” Cayugas. This will be the 1st winter for the Cayugas. The 1st winter we had ducks, we kept them in an 8×8 raised (8-10″) garden bed (at the time, not committed to any plants) with 4×8′ lattice around all 4 sides to keep them contained. We topped the dirt fill in the space with straw and cedar shavings (not chips but way coarser than you get for rabbits etc.). In one front corner, we put a small, well-used kiddy wading pool, inset into the original dirt fill so it was about level with the “ground” in the space. We kept that filled with water, adding hot when it was getting frozen/slushy. We covered the whole space (top 8×8′ space) with 2 sheets of insulated board (like super thick styrofoam), where we could move one board to address their “pond” as needed. Over the whole thing all the way to the ground we put 1-2 good tarps, weighted down around the sides. Once the snow started falling, it stayed weighted down on the ground. Ducks nested in the corner opposite from pool, which they heartily used all winter. Girl Duck laid eggs frequently. We had a feeder and clean water dispenser in there, which was refilled and checked twice a day in cold weather. They thrived and the cold was not an issue. They were allowed to roam around on days when there were paths melted in the snow to make waddling easy. A good size creek runs thru the back yard and they regularly went there to paddle around all day when they were not penned up. Made a good friend of a Canadian goose who still comes by every year. If a raised bed is not available, you might make a pen out of hog panel or kennel panels (all reusable and available at feed/tractor/farm supply stores), lashing the 4 corners together with wire, bungees, pipe strap, or drive inexpensive fence T-posts at corners and tie to those. Put a dog house in one corner away from the side you intend to use for an entry (gate), big enough for all 3 with door just big enough for them to get in easily, fill floor inside with lots of cedar shavings. Put a large plastic tub near the corner you will use for a gate with water and rig a ramp for them to get in, add a 1/2 concrete block in it for them to step on to get out easily. Cover it all with tarp(s) and either plywood sheets or something sturdy enough to stand up to a little snow load, which you will keep low to negligible. Good luck – we love our guys – great entertainment! Ski & Lake Effect Snow belt SE of Buffalo (NY)

I just want to suggest using an old TIRE for winter dust bathing. Mine was a little small for the cochins, so for big chickens I would suggest an SUV or truck tire. Without a handy-man to create a box, it was my only alternative. It worked well (next time I’ll make sure to line it a little better with a removeable board beneath). I didn’t have any DE to add to it (our local feed stores don’t carry it) but haven’t had a problem with mites or parasites. I would love to get some though- since wild birds in their yard are one possible source. I also do the deep-litter method and I think raising the tire off the floor would be helpful(a base-board beneath the tire that is raised up at on bricks or something).

I would love to do the deep litter method but my coops are 3 ft off of the ground and the floor height from bottom of coop to the doors is only about 5″. Its hard to clean when its frozen :/ I’m going to try your method and just keep adding til I can’t add anymore! Great tips! Thanks 😀

I have 3 pekin ducks. I have them in a wooden crate turned upside down. It is not sealed very well. Our place is for sell so we don’t want to put a lot of money in it. What do you do when it snows? It’s not big enough to put a heat lamp in it. I thought of putting a tarp over it. Any suggestion?

I can just picture your cellar all stocked up…BEAUTIFUL! And your coop winterizing tips are very informative. I live in Northeast Ga where the winters are not so cold. On occasion it does drop below freezing. Snows are few and far between. My chickens get out everyday to free range and come back to roost at night. On colder days they do tend to hang around the coop. You have inspired me to research how I should winterize my coops for our climate. Thanks!